No Sacrifice
by Paper Pearls
Summary: Neville gave a lot to be with her. In her own way, Victoire learns that it wasn't a sacrifice. One-shot.


**This is my response to the August 25****th**** 'Daily Prompt' from the HPFCF, "uneasy silence", and the September 21****st**** from Hogwarts Online. Credit to mew-tsubaki for the pairing.**

**OoOoO**

"I wonder who she is." Dominique tilted her head to the side as though attempting to imagine the appearance of the woman in question, her angelic features schooled into a pretty frown. As had been the case every time her younger sister had raised the topic of the Longbottom marriage and its recent demise, Victoire felt sick. She put her fork down onto her plate with uncharacteristic clumsiness, the quiet clatter drawing the attention of her family.

"Are you alright, Victoire? You're looking a tad pale." Bill Weasley scrutinised his eldest child carefully from his position at the top of the table. He didn't look surprised when Dominique ignored the question and continued talking and rolled his eyes in mock irritation.

"I mean _really_, Professor Longbottom and Hannah had been together forever. That woman must have been properly spiteful – a real-" Dominique wrinkled her nose in disgust. Certain that her sister must be able to sense what it was that she had done, Victoire turned and looked out of the window at the English countryside, hoping that avoiding eye contact would preserve her secret. The sunset cast a warm glow over the room and forced her to squint slightly as it dazzled her.

"Yes, alright Dominique." Pushing a bowl of casserole along the table, Fleur ended the conversation. Dominique opened her mouth as though to argue but thought better of it when she caught sight of the look on her mother's face. "Take more – you don't eat enough."

"Give Louis extra or keep it for lunch tomorrow; I don't want any more." Theatrically, she lifted her napkin from her lap and dropped it onto the table. Louis looked up, an almost comically horrified expression on his face. He looked from his mother to Dominique and then down at his own plate. Victoire knew that he was aware that it was wiser to side with their mother, but he was a growing boy and the temptation to eat more was a strong one.

"If you lose any more weight, you'll look as though you're ill. I'll not have it said that I don't feed you properly when you return to Hogwarts." Fleur sighed, and Victoire was reminded of the tension that existed between her mother and Grandmother Weasley – things between them had never been easy, or so Victoire had been told, and their relationship must have deteriorated if her mother was worried about the slim possibility of a cousin letting the wrong words slip out.

"But maman, maybe that was Hannah's mistake; she let herself go and Professor Longbottom's eyes wandered. His hands too-" Dominique raised her eyebrows saucily.

"Enough!" At first Victoire thought her mother had spoken – she had heard the same passion and intensity – but they were all facing her. Louis' eyes were wide. "Don't say such horrible things about something you know nothing of."

It was bad enough that she herself had hurt Hannah, a woman who had always shown her kindness, and so Victoire didn't want to hear her slandered. It was worse still that everyone would think that Neville, patient, gentle Neville, was a sleaze because of what she had done.

"_I know that I'm lucky to have you, Victoire." He kissed the back of her hand, and the slight brush of his stubble against her skin made her heart race. "Don't ever think that I don't realise."_

At first Victoire had thought more of the way he had kissed her than of what Neville had said, but his words had stayed with her. Neville made her feel precious. He was consistently thoughtful and always listened to what she had to say. Ever since that peaceful afternoon in his greenhouse, on the last day of the summer previous, when Victoire had impulsively leant forwards and kissed him, he had shown her nothing but adoration.

It was the kind of love that Victoire had rarely heard of since she had outgrown childhood fairytales.

"Well if you're so clued in then tell us – go on." There was a pause. "See? You don't know any more than I do."

"Be quiet, unless you have anything based on fact to share." Their father sounded tired. Victoire couldn't blame him – his job was stressful. Even though she had only been working as a Curse Breaker for the month following her graduation from Hogwarts, Victoire was often exhausted. She wondered idly how long it would take to reach a similar level of expertise to that of her father.

"Actually, I do know more than you." Victoire wiped her shaking hands on her napkin. "I know because it was me that Neville left Hannah for."

"Don't be silly." Bill grinned wolfishly. "That's exactly the kind of nonsense that your Uncle Fred would have come out with."

Fleur laughed musically for several seconds, suddenly falling silent as her younger daughter's words permeated her consciousness.

"That's where you kept sneaking off to, isn't it?" Dominique stared at Victoire as though seeing her for the first time. "Isn't it?"

"It was only a joke, darling." Fleur turned to Victoire, her hands clutching the edge of the wooden table like a lifeline. A steely note entered her voice. "Wasn't it?"

An uneasy silence descended.

Despite the warmth of the evening, Victoire felt cold. She held her ground, thinking of all that Neville had sacrificed her. He had exchanged teaching for researching because of her.

"_It's a challenge that I should have taken on years ago." He smiled in an easygoing manner that let Victoire know he was telling the truth._

"_That doesn't mean you don't love it." _

He had given up the security of marriage for the love of a capricious girl. And she hadn't even told her family. Willing her voice to work, Victoire stood slowly. She wished that Neville was beside her now – he made her feel as fearless as people assumed those with beauty always were.

"No, maman. I'm seeing Neville." She didn't wince when Dominique gasped. "He loves me."

Louis took the opportunity to spoon extra casserole onto his plate.

As the muggle saying went, all hell broke loose, but Victoire found that she didn't care. She ignored the furious stream of questions from her mother and the outraged shrieking from Dominique. Louis shrugged, gave a small smile and kept on eating.

"I love him too." She couldn't keep the smile from her mouth. Now she understood what Neville had said when he had told her that nothing else mattered to him – it didn't bother her that her mother didn't understand, or that Dominique probably never would, because she was happy.

**OoOoO**

**Thanks for reading. Please review. **


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